Something must be in the air

Posted by Chris Clarke on December 8, 2009

Zeke communes with nature

Zeke inspects a seriously dead cow, Burro Creek, Arizona. January 2 2004

Something must be in the air: the time of year, perhaps, or a regular geist asking the zeitgeist for a walk around the block, but I’ve had him on my mind for a few days, and yesterday I got a text from the ex- saying she’d been feeling the same way. We reminisced a bit on the phone. Of course that only made it worse, but in kind of a good way.

Maybe it was the snow in the Bay Area yesterday. He loved it so, the snow, and one of the things I’ll always regret is that we didn’t get him to places more often where he could be out in it.

I think one of the reasons I was able to cope with life in a city was having him there: I didn’t feel the thoroughgoing lack of connection with the real world that I do these days. Being my conduit to the real was a big job, and he did it as long as he could.

Ironically, he kind of hated the desert. At least the Mojave, and the Sonoran was a bit spiny and hot for him as well. He did love the Great Basin desert, cool and soft and sparsely saged as it is. He fit that landscape well. Well enough that I always meant to get him a blaze orange vest so as not to be mistaken for a coyote by some gun-toting yahoo.

Ah, love.

Comments



I think Sabrina has mixed feelings about the desert.  She likes to inspect plants (I call her Botanist Dog), and the many scents, but she doesn’t like the heat, or getting stickers in her feet.  Walking down a wash is usually good - soft footing and often some some good shade.  Sage is still too young to dislike anything.


Posted by bev on 12/08 at 06:06 PM



Am I weak for tearing up?  What a beautiful photo.  What a beautiful thought…simple, powerful, heartfelt.  I never fully say goodbye, never truly let go.  That seems the right place for good company.

(Now going to crack open the book again, read a few chapters, remember…)


Posted by jason on 12/08 at 07:24 PM



I miss him too.


Posted by beth on 12/08 at 08:22 PM



Chris, I just found you again via the Modulator. I didn’t realize you were still blogging.

I too have thought about Zeke lately, probably because we’ve been going through an ordeal with Bailey.

Yesterday, we lost her.

My best to you. Zeke and Bailey are wherever it is the good dogs go.


Posted by KathyF on 12/10 at 02:07 PM



Zeke was the most handsome of dogs… our Jack is built a little like him and I admire them both.

Zeke is often on my mind and his name passes my lips too periodically. Actually, when I talk to my husband about something on this blog, I refer to you Chris as “Zeke’s dad.”


Posted by Natalie on 12/10 at 11:31 PM


Page 1 of 1 pages


Leave a comment

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Next entry: Bailey, RIP
Previous entry: Solar strip mining

Advanced Search

Walking With Zeke

zeke book cover

A journal of an aging dog, the people who loved him, and the wildlife-filled neighborhood in which he spent his last months.

"The best self-published book of the year." — Lawrence Hogue, author, All The Wild and Lonely Places

 

Buy it.

Recent comments

Chris Clarke on 'CC Postcards'.

Bill on 'CC Postcards'.

Jack Matthews on 'Desert Writers 1: Nabhan, Meloy, Childs'.

Bill on 'Desert Writers 1: Nabhan, Meloy, Childs'.

Ellen Snyder on 'Letter'.

drew on 'Son of Naming the Joshua Tree'.

heydave on 'Letter'.

Jean Kaiwi on 'Unexpectedly ancient'.

Anthony Edwards on 'Morongo Bill Visits Ivanpah'.

Chris Clarke on 'Unexpectedly ancient'.

Tags

zeke